Systems and methods for resolving touch and pen conflicts between multiple touch controllers coupled to a common touchscreen display

ABSTRACT

Systems and methods are provided that may be implemented to share digital touch data (e.g., user finger touch data, pen or stylus touch data, etc.) between two or more touch controllers that are coupled to separate respective touch-sensing segments of a common touchscreen display device. The shared digital touch data may correspond to (and be derived from) analog user touch signals received within a defined margin area of each touch-sensing layer segment that lies adjacent to a middle boundary region of the touchscreen display. Each touch controller may accurately determine or compute the user touch intent for a touch data map of its corresponding touch-sensing layer segment after resolving any existing boundary conflict between digital touch data that corresponds to adjacent touch sensor segments. An operating system (OS) executing on a host programmable integrated circuit may then reconstruct and provide the full touch data map for the entire touchscreen display device.

FIELD

This invention relates generally to information handling systems and,more particularly, to supporting a common touchscreen display withmultiple touch controllers.

BACKGROUND

As the value and use of information continues to increase, individualsand businesses seek additional ways to process and store information.One option available to users is information handling systems. Aninformation handling system generally processes, compiles, stores,and/or communicates information or data for business, personal, or otherpurposes thereby allowing users to take advantage of the value of theinformation. Because technology and information handling needs andrequirements vary between different users or applications, informationhandling systems may also vary regarding what information is handled,how the information is handled, how much information is processed,stored, or communicated, and how quickly and efficiently the informationmay be processed, stored, or communicated. The variations in informationhandling systems allow for information handling systems to be general orconfigured for a specific user or specific use such as financialtransaction processing, airline reservations, enterprise data storage,or global communications. In addition, information handling systems mayinclude a variety of hardware and software components that may beconfigured to process, store, and communicate information and mayinclude one or more computer systems, data storage systems, andnetworking systems.

Information handling systems often include a touchscreen display whichboth displays images and receives finger and pen touch input from a uservia a touch controller, and there are many different sizes oftouchscreen displays that require touch controllers with differentcapabilities. In many cases, different touch controller integratedcircuits are created for different sizes of touchscreen displays.Attempting to match different touchscreen controllers with differentrespective sizes of touchscreen displays increases complexity and costacross the entire supply chain, especially for large form factortouchscreen displays (17 inch diagonal or larger size screens) that havea much lower Total Addressable Market (TAM).

Many readily available industry standard touch controllers do not have asufficient number of receive (RX) and transmit (TX) lines to supportlarger touchscreen displays (such as foldable touchscreens) that have apitch that is less than or equal to 5 millimeters combined with adiagonal dimension that is greater than 17 inches as measured across thetouchscreen. Therefore, larger touchscreen displays typically employ asegmented touch sensor area, and separate touch controllers aretypically coupled to receive analog touch signals (transmit (TX) andreceive (RX) signals) provided by the separate touch sensor segments ofthe larger touchscreen display. However, touch performance issues canpotentially arise across the border between two separate touch sensorsegments of a common touchscreen display due to conflicts between theirrespective touch controllers. Examples of such touch performance issuesinclude ghost finger (i.e., where the position of finger is recorded inslightly different positions, such as two millimeters apart, bydifferent touch controllers), touch/pen linearity, poor touchsensitivity and palm rejection error (i.e., where a small portion of apalm touch to one sensor segment is interpreted by its touch controlleras a finger touch).

It is known to resolve touch and pen performance issues between twoseparate touch controllers of a single touchscreen by transferring theentire sensor segment heat map from each of the touch controllers to theoperating system (OS) executed by a central processing unit (CPU) of aninformation handling system, which then resolves any conflict betweenthe multiple touch controllers. However, such a solution is dependenton, and specific to, the particular OS employed by the host programmableintegrated circuit of each given information handling system. Moreover,using the OS to resolve touch controller conflicts requires increasedbandwidth and OS processing due to the transfer of the entire heat mapdata from each touch controller to the CPU.

It is also known to resolve touch and pen conflicts between multiplecontrollers of a single touchscreen using a master/slave relationshipbetween a single “master” touch controller and one or more other “slave”touch controllers. However, implementing multiple touch controllers in amaster/slave relationship increases complexity and processing delays,which only increases as the number of touch controllers increases.

FIG. 1 illustrates another known architecture 100 for implementing dualtouch controllers 104 a and 104 b for a common touchscreen 102, with ananalog front end (AFE) 103 a of a first touch controller 104 a coupledby hardwire conductors to transmit drive signals 105 a (TX signals) to aTX lines of a first sensor segment 108 a of touchscreen 102 and toreceive analog touch signals 106 a (RX signals) from RX lines of thefirst sensor segment 108 a, and an AFE 103 b of a second touchcontroller 104 b is coupled by hardwire conductors to transmit drivesignals 105 b (TX signals) to TX lines of a separate second sensorsegment 108 b of touchscreen 102 and to receive analog touch signals 106b (RX signals) from RX lines of the second sensor segment 108 b asshown. First touch controller 104 a and second touch controller 104 bare also coupled to provide heat map data to a central processing unit(CPU) as shown. In the conventional configuration of FIG. 1, AFE 103 aof first touch controller 104 a is also coupled by additional hardwireconductors 114 a to directly transmit drive signals and receive analogtouch signals from respective TX lines and RX lines of an inner boundaryarea 110 b of second sensor segment 108 b, and second touch controller104 b is also coupled by additional hardwire conductors 114 b todirectly transmit drive signals and receive analog touch signals fromrespective TX lines and RX lines of an inner boundary region 110 a offirst sensor segment 108 a. The width of each inner boundary area 110 aand 110 b is determined by the provided number of respective hardwireconductors 114 a and 114 b coupled to TX and RX lines of first andsecond sensor segments 108 a and 108 b, respectively.

In the conventional configuration of FIG. 1, touch controllers 104 a and104 b share the analog touch signals provided directly across hardwireconductors 114 a and 114 b from respective inner boundary regions 110 band 110 a of respective sensor segments 108 b and 108 a. Sharing theanalog touch signals from boundary regions 110 a and 110 b allowsrespective microcontrollers 111 a and 111 b of touch controllers 104 aand 104 b to attempt to calculate the same touch values as each otherfor boundary regions 110 a and 110 b, so as to attempt to resolve touchconflicts and provide continuity across the border 120 between sensorsegments 108 a and 108 b of the common touchscreen 102 when a finger orpen touch occurs across the physical boundary region 120 between sensorsegments 108 a and 108 b. However, this conventional solution requiresadding additional hardware conductors 114 a and 114 b to the circuitryof touchscreen 102 and touch controllers 104 a and 104 b, and the sizeof inner boundary regions 110 a and 110 b is permanently fixed by thenumber of additional hardwire conductors 114 a and 114 b that areprovided during original fabrication of the circuitry for touchcontrollers 104 a and 104 b and touchscreen 102. Additionally, theadditional hardwire conductors 114 a and 114 b are subject to analognoise interference which can cause deviations and discontinuity betweenthe touch location values calculated by touch controllers 104 b and 104a for respective boundary regions 110 a and 110 b from the hardwireconductors 114 a and 114 b.

SUMMARY

Disclosed herein are systems and methods for sharing digital touch data(e.g., user finger touch data, pen or stylus touch data, etc.) betweentwo or more touch controllers that are coupled to separate respectivetouch-sensing layer segments of a common touchscreen display device thathas an underlying unitary and continuous layered display screen ordisplay panel (e.g., a single unitary and continuous display screen inone embodiment). In one embodiment, the shared digital touch data maycorrespond to (and be derived from) analog user touch signals receivedwithin a defined margin area of each touch-sensing layer segment thatlies adjacent to a middle boundary region of the touchscreen displaythat is defined at the boundary between separate adjacent touch-sensinglayer segments of the touchscreen display. In one embodiment, thedigital touch data of the margin area may be shared by each touchcontroller with each other touch controller through an existingelectrical interface, such as a Universal AsynchronousReceiver-Transmitter (UART) interface, Inter-Integrated Circuit (I²C)interface, Serial Peripheral Interface (SPI), etc. This sharing ofmargin area digital touch data enables a programmable integrated circuitof each touch controller to accurately determine or compute the usertouch intent for a touch data map of its corresponding touch-sensinglayer segment after resolving any existing boundary conflict betweendigital touch data that corresponds to adjacent touch sensor segments byvirtue of the shared digital touch data. Each touch controller may thenprovide its fully-resolved touch data (e.g., including any finger andpen touch events) to a host programmable integrated circuit (e.g.,central processing unit) of an information handling system. In such anembodiment, the host programmable integrated circuit may execute anoperating system (OS) to reconstruct and provide the full touch data mapfor the entire touchscreen display device, e.g., to an applicationexecuting on the host programmable integrated circuit.

In one embodiment, an analog front end (AFE) of each given touchcontroller of a touchscreen display device may first receive analogtouch signals from a given touch-sensing layer segment of thetouchscreen display device, and an analog to digital converter (ADC) ofthe given AFE may convert the analog touch signals to digital touch datacorresponding to the entire given touch-sensing layer segment. The givenAFE may then be configured to select a portion of the digital touch datathat corresponds to a defined margin area of the given touch-sensinglayer segment, and to share this selected margin area digital touch datawith an AFE of each of the other touch controller/s that are coupled tomonitor touch-sensing layer segments that have a boundary adjacent thedefined margin area of the given touch-sensing layer segment of thetouchscreen display device.

Sharing of margin area digital touch data between AFEs of adjacenttouch-sensing layer segments enables each touch controller to accuratelydetermine (e.g., compute) the user touch intent after resolving anyexisting boundary conflict between digital touch data that correspondsto adjacent touch sensor segments. In one embodiment, a multi-touchcontroller algorithm may be simultaneously implemented by a programmableintegrated circuit of each of the separate touch controllers of atouchscreen display device to resolve boundary conflicts and determineuser touch intent. Once each of the touch controllers have shared itsfully resolved Touch & Pen data with the Host PC, the host Platform CPU& OS can reconstruct the full Touch & Pen Maps back to the Application.

In one embodiment, width of each margin area (i.e., “sharing area”width) of a given touch-sensing layer segment may be dynamically definedor selected in real time based on factors such as user finger size,e.g., to better differentiate and accept an intentional user fingertouch event while identifying and rejecting unintentional user touchevents (e.g., such as palm touch, arm touch, etc.). In anotherembodiment, width of a middle boundary region of a given touch-sensinglayer segment may be dynamically selected in real time based on currenttouchscreen display use context, such as current touchscreen displaydevice orientation and/or posture, current touchscreen display devicemode (e.g., such as book mode, tablet mode, traditional notebook withinternal keyboard mode, notebook with external keyboard mode, etc.),current operating system (OS) application context, current hinge angle,etc.

By sharing digital touch data between different touch controllers whileat the same time using a multi-touch controller algorithm to resolveboundary conflicts between the different touch controllers, routing oftouch sensor transmit (TX) and receive (RX) lines may advantageously besimplified (and corresponding flexible printed circuit size reduced) ascompared to a conventional solution that requires hardwire connectionsto transfer analog touch signals (TX and RX signals) to a first touchcontroller from an adjacent sensor segment assigned to a different andsecond touch controller, i.e., such as illustrated in FIG. 1. Moreover,the disclosed systems and methods may be implemented to share digitaltouch data between multiple touch controllers, and to resolve boundaryconflicts between the multiple touch controllers, in a manner that isagnostic to (or implemented independent of) particular informationhandling system platform OS, basic input/output system (BIOS) and/orembedded controller (EC) configurations. The disclosed systems andmethods may also be implemented to share digital touch data and resolvetouch controller conflicts without the need for increased bandwidth andOS processing, e.g., by using USB-human interface device (HID) touchsignals. The disclosed systems and methods may also be scaled up forlarger touchscreen display devices (e.g., having 17 inch diagonal sizeor larger screens) using a larger number of touch controllers withoutincreasing system and/or circuit wiring complexity and withoutincreasing signal processing and routing delays.

In one respect, disclosed herein is an information handling system,including: a touch screen display device including at least first andsecond segments disposed in side-by-side relationship to each other witha boundary defined therebetween; a first analog to digital converter(ADC) coupled to the touch screen display device and receiving firstanalog signals corresponding to a user touch from the first segment andconverting the first analog signals to respective first digital datathat includes information identifying a current particular touchedlocation on the first segment; and a second ADC coupled to the touchscreen display device and receiving second analog signals correspondingto a user touch from the second segment and converting the second analogsignals to respective second digital data that includes informationidentifying a current particular touched location on the second segment.The first ADC and the second ADC may be coupled together, with the firstADC providing to the second ADC a portion of the first digital datacorresponding to a defined margin area of the first segment adjacent tothe boundary between the first and second segments, and the second ADCproviding to the second ADC a portion of the second digital datacorresponding to a defined margin area of the second segment adjacent tothe boundary between the second and second segments. The informationhandling system may further include at least one programmable integratedcircuit coupled to the first ADC and at least one programmableintegrated circuit coupled to the second ADC, the first ADC providingthe first digital data combined with the provided portion of the seconddigital data to at least one programmable integrated circuit of theinformation handing system, and the second ADC providing the seconddigital data combined with the provided portion of the first digitaldata to at least one programmable integrated circuit of the informationhandling system. The information handling system may further include atleast one programmable integrated circuit programmed to receive andcombine the first digital data that is combined with the providedportion of the second digital data, with the second digital data that iscombined with the provided portion of the first digital data, to formtotal combined digital data.

In another respect, disclosed herein is a method, including: displayinggraphics images on a visual display area of a touch screen displaydevice of an information handling system, the touch screen displaydevice including at least first and second segments disposed inside-by-side relationship to each other with a boundary definedtherebetween; receiving in a first analog to digital converter (ADC)first analog signals corresponding to a user touch from a first segmentof the touchscreen display device, and converting the first analogsignals to respective first digital data that includes informationidentifying a current particular touched location on the first segment;receiving in a second ADC second analog signals corresponding to a usertouch from a second segment of the touchscreen display device, andconverting the second analog signals to respective second digital datathat includes information identifying a current particular touchedlocation on the second segment, the first and second segments of thetouchscreen display device being disposed in side-by-side relationshipto each other with a boundary defined therebetween;

providing from the first ADC to the second ADC a portion of the firstdigital data corresponding to a defined margin area of the first segmentadjacent to the boundary between the first and second segments, andproviding from the second ADC to the first ADC a portion of the seconddigital data corresponding to a defined margin area of the secondsegment adjacent to the boundary between the first and second segments;in the first ADC combining the first digital data with the providedportion of the second digital data, and in the second ADC combining thesecond digital data with the provided portion of the first digital data;and combining the first digital data that is combined with the providedportion of the second digital data with the second digital data that iscombined with the provided portion of the first digital data to formtotal combined digital data.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 illustrates a conventional technique for implementing dual touchcontrollers for a common touchscreen.

FIG. 2 illustrates a block diagram of dual screen information handlingsystem according to one exemplary embodiment of the disclosed systemsand methods.

FIG. 3 illustrates touch-sensing layer segments according to oneexemplary embodiment of the disclosed systems and methods.

FIG. 4 illustrates a simplified block diagram of a host programmableintegrated circuit, touch controllers, and the respective analogtouch-sensing areas of each of multiple different touch-sensing layersegments according to one exemplary embodiment of the disclosed systemsand methods.

FIG. 5 illustrates a visual representation of digital touch dataprovided by the internal analog-to-digital converters (ADCs) of multipleanalog front ends (AFEs) to respective microcontroller units (MCUs) ofmultiple touch controllers respectively according to one exemplaryembodiment of the disclosed systems and methods.

FIG. 6 illustrates a representation of digital touch data received frommultiple touch controllers and processed in a host programmableintegrated circuit according to one exemplary embodiment of thedisclosed systems and methods.

FIG. 7 illustrates methodology according to one exemplary embodiment ofthe disclosed systems and methods.

FIG. 8 illustrates examples of different possible user modes of afoldable information handling system according to one exemplaryembodiment of the disclosed systems and methods

FIG. 9 illustrates a touch-sensing layer according to one exemplaryembodiment of the disclosed systems and methods.

FIG. 10 illustrates multiple separate sensing regions of touch-sensingsensor circuitry according to one exemplary embodiment of the disclosedsystems and methods.

FIG. 11 illustrates methodology according to one exemplary embodiment ofthe disclosed systems and methods.

FIG. 12 illustrates a simplified block diagram of a multiple host touchinterface architecture according one exemplary embodiment of thedisclosed systems and methods.

FIG. 13 illustrates a simplified block diagram of a single host touchinterface architecture.

DESCRIPTION OF ILLUSTRATIVE EMBODIMENTS

FIG. 2 illustrates one exemplary embodiment of an information handlingsystem 200 configured as single-display portable information handlingsystem (e.g., battery-powered laptop or tablet device having a foldabletouchscreen 285), although the disclosed systems and methods may beimplemented with other types of information handling systemconfigurations such as desktop or tower computer configurations,workstation configurations, notebook computer configurations, etc. Inthe illustrated embodiment of FIG. 2, the indicated components of system200 are contained within a chassis enclosure 201 (e.g., foldable plasticor composite enclosure) that contains internal components of theinformation handling system 200 therein. Examples of system componentsillustrated in the embodiment of FIG. 2 include touchscreen displaydevice 285 (e.g., including a single 17 inch diagonal or larger displayscreen 287 layered together with at least two separate side-by-sidetouch-sensing layer segments 289 a and 289 b), host programmableintegrated circuit 206, optional discrete graphics processing unit (GPU)209, system memory 221, storage device 217, and a network interfacecontroller (NIC) 203.

In one embodiment, host programmable integrated circuit 206 may be acentral processing unit (CPU) that executes an operating system (OS) 260(e.g., Microsoft Windows 10 OS, Linux OS, etc.), applications 264, andother software/firmware for system 200. As shown OS 260 may includedriver/s 262 such as a human interface device (HID) touchscreen driver.Host 206 may include, for example, an Intel Xeon series processor, anAdvanced Micro Devices (AMD) processor or another type of programmableintegrated circuit.

Still referring to the exemplary embodiment of FIG. 2, host 206 is showncoupled to system memory 221 via a data channel. System memory 221 maybe volatile and/or non-volatile memory and may include, for example,random access memory (RAM), read only memory (ROM), dynamic RAM (DRAM),synchronous DRAM (SDRAM), and/or other suitable storage mediums. Host206 is also coupled to platform controller hub (PCH) 250, whichfacilitates input/output functions for information handling system 200.Local system storage 217 (e.g., one or more media drives such as solidstate drives, hard disk drives, optical drives, etc.) are each coupledto PCH 250 to provide non-volatile storage for the information handlingsystem 200. Optional input/output devices 283 (e.g., a keyboard, mouse,touchpad, etc.) may be coupled to PCH 250 as shown to enable a localsystem user to interact with components of information handling system200 including application programs 264 or other software/firmwareexecuting on host 206.

Also shown coupled to PCH 250 is network interface controller (NIC) 203that may be present to allow host 206 to communicate in a wired and/orwireless manner with other remote information handling system devices292 across network 291, e.g., which may be the Internet, corporateintranet or other suitable network communication medium. An embeddedcontroller (EC) 261 may also be provided and coupled to non-volatilememory 263 as shown. EC 261 may perform out-of-band processing,including thermal and power management tasks, etc.

In the embodiment of FIG. 2, components of touchscreen display device285 are integrated with other system components of FIG. 2 within thesame chassis 201. As shown, optional GPU 209 is coupled in signalcommunication with host 206 to transfer instructions and data forgenerating graphics images from host 206 to the GPU 209. Optional GPU209 may be an NVidia GeForce series processor, an AMD Radeon seriesprocessor, or another type of programmable integrated circuit that isconfigured to perform graphics processing tasks to provide outputdigital image signals (e.g., as frame buffer data) via video or imagedata bus or data conductors (e.g., HDMI, DVI, SVGA, VGA, etc.) todisplay controller 279 of display device 285 which displays digitalimages on display screen 287 (e.g., LED display, LCD display, or othersuitable type of display screen technology). It will be understood thatin other embodiments host 206 may alternatively provide such outputdigital video signals via video data bus or data conductors directly todisplay controller 279 of display device 285 for display of digitalimages on display screen 287, including in those cases where optionalGPU 209 is not present.

In FIG. 2, touchscreen display device 285 includes a single unitary andcontinuous layered planar display screen 287 (e.g., including LEDdisplay layers, OLED display layers, LCD display layers, or othersuitable type of layered display screen technology) that defines asingle unitary and continuous planar visual display area as shown indashed outline in FIG. 2. As further shown in FIG. 2, touchscreendisplay device 285 also includes one or more separate layers oftouch-sensing sensor circuitry (e.g., capacitive layers, resistivelayers technology, surface acoustic wave transducers, etc.) that defineseparate side-by-side respective planar touch-sensing layer segments 289a and 289 b (shown in solid outline) that each overlies a portion of thevisual display area of display screen 287 in stacked layered parallelrelationship, with the plane of the layered planar display screen 287disposed parallel to the plane of each of the side-by-side planartouch-sensing layer segments 289 a and 289 b. It will be understood thata layer of planar touch-sensing layer segments 289 a and 289 b mayeither physically contact a layer of layered display screen 287, or mayoverlie (or overlap) the area of layered display screen 287 with otherlayers disposed therebetween. Moreover, it will be understood that inother embodiments planar touch-sensing layer segments 289 a and 289 bmay underlie (or be overlapped by) the area of layered display screen287.

In this embodiment of FIG. 2, the RX₁ lines of touch-sensing layersegment 289 a are not connected to the RX₂ lines of touch-sensing layersegment 289 b. Instead, each of RX₁ lines and RX₂ lines terminate (arecut) at middle boundary region 230 and therefore do not extend acrossthe full length of touch-sensing sensor circuitry of touchscreen displaydevice 285. The touch-sensing sensor circuitry of each touch-sensingsegment dynamically senses in real time the presence and specificlocation/s (e.g., X, Y coordinate positions, etc.) where a user touchesthe respective touch-sensing segment with a finger (as used herein theterm “finger” includes a thumb), hand, stylus or pen, etc.

For example, in one exemplary embodiment, each of touch-sensing layersegments 289 a and 289 b of FIG. 2 includes a plurality ofregularly-spaced drive or transmit (TX) lines and a plurality ofregularly-spaced sense or receive (RX) lines that are orientedperpendicular to the transmit (TX) lines to form a grid of TX and RXlines. In this grid configuration, the TX and RX lines cross each otherin perpendicular spaced planes to form sense nodes 270 at each crossingpoint. As shown in FIG. 2, touch controllers 282 a and 282 b (e.g., eachconfigured for supporting a single 7 to 8 inch diagonal size touchscreendisplay) may be coupled by separate transmit (TX) signal conductors andreceive (RX) signal conductors to the respective TX and RX lines ofseparate touch-sensing layer segments 289 a and 289 b, respectively. Insuch an embodiment, touch controller 282 a supplies a drive signalacross a respective signal conductor TX₁ to each of the TX₁ lines oftouch-sensing layer segment 289 a and touch controller 282 b supplies adrive signal across a respective signal conductor TX₂ to each of the TX₂lines of touch-sensing layer segment 289 b.

Still referring to FIG. 2, when a human user touches a particularlocation on either touch-sensing layer segments 289 a or 289 b, a touchevent may be detected by the corresponding respective touch controller282 a or 282 b at one or more of the sense nodes of the touch segmentlayer 289 a or 289 b by detecting a change in the signal charge causedby a change in the capacitance induced across one or more of its sensenodes 270 at that current particular touched location (e.g., at X, Ycoordinate position/s corresponding to the current particular touchedlocation). These signal charges are injected into the respective RX₁ andRX₂ lines of touch segment layers 289 a and 289 b. In such anembodiment, touch controller 282 a receives a charge signal (across arespective electrical conductor RX₁) as an analog sense signal in itsanalog front end (AFE) 283 a from each of the RX₁ lines of touch-sensinglayer segment 289 a, and touch controller 282 b receives a charge signal(across a respective electrical conductor RX₂) as an analog sense signalin its AFE 283 b from each of the RX₂ lines of touch-sensing layersegment 289 b.

An internal analog to digital converter (ADC) 293 a of the AFE 283 a oftouch controller 282 a and an internal ADC 293 b of the AFE 283 b oftouch controller 282 b of FIG. 2 converts the received analog sensesignals of the respective RX₁ lines and RX₂ lines to digital touch data(e.g., including information identifying the X, Y coordinate position/scorresponding to a current particular touched location), and amicrocontroller (MCU) of the respective touch controller 282 a or 282 bprocesses this digital touch data to produce a heat map that includesany identified touch events and their sensed current user touchlocations (e.g., that identifies occurrence of the current particulartouch event and that identifies the sensed X, Y coordinate position/scorresponding to the touched location of the current particular touchevent). Each of touch controllers 282 a and 282 b forwards thisinformation (i.e., identified touch events and their sensed current usertouch locations) as digital HID touch protocol signals (e.g., Microsofthuman interface device (HID) events) to a HID touchscreen driver 262 ofOS 260 on host programmable integrated circuit 206, e.g., via a data bus277 a or 277 b such as serial peripheral interface (SPI). In analternative embodiment, each of touch controllers 282 a and 282 b mayforward this information (i.e., identified touch events and their sensedcurrent user touch locations) as digital Microsoft (MSFT) Heatmap TouchProtocol data to a MSFT heatmap driver of OS 260 on host programmableintegrated circuit 206. This is also an alternative data transfertechnique for all other embodiments herein that are described as usingdigital HID touch protocol signals transmitted to the host programmableintegrated circuit 206.

As further described and illustrated herein, the respective AFEs 283 aand 283 b of touch controllers 282 a and 282 b may also exchange atleast a portion of their digital touch data between each other thatcorresponds to a defined margin area of each respective touch-sensinglayer segment that lies adjacent to a middle boundary region 230 of thetouchscreen display that is defined between adjacent TX₁ and TX₂ linesof the respective separate adjacent touch-sensing layer segments 289 aand 289 b.

Further information on configuration and operation of touchscreendisplay technology may be found, for example, in U.S. Pat. Nos.10,216,304; 10,276,081; 10,656,761; and in U.S. patent application Ser.No. 16/833,634 filed Mar. 29, 2020; each of which the foregoing beingincorporated herein by reference in its entirety for all purposes.

FIG. 3 illustrates touch-sensing layer segments 289 a or 289 b accordingto one exemplary embodiment. As shown in FIG. 3, touch-sensing layersegment 289 a in includes a grid of 84 horizontal RX₁ lines (RX₁ lines0-83) and 32 vertical TX₁ lines (TX₁ lines 0-31) that are coupled byrespective signal conductors RX₁ and TX₁ to AFE 283 a of first touchcontroller 282 a (TC1). As further shown, touch-sensing layer segment289 b includes a grid of 84 horizontal RX₂ lines (RX₂ lines 0-83) and 30vertical TX₂ lines (TX₂ lines 32-62) that are coupled by respectivesignal conductors RX₂ and TX₂ to AFE 283 b of second touch controller282 b (TC2).

FIG. 4 illustrates a simplified block diagram of one embodiment of hostprogrammable integrated circuit 206, touch controllers 282 a and 282 b,and the respective analog touch-sensing areas 489 a and 489 b of each oftouch-sensing layer segments 289 a or 289 b. FIG. 7 illustrates amethodology 700 as it may be performed according to one exemplaryembodiment.

In particular, FIG. 4 depicts the analog touch-sensing areas 489 a and489 b of touch-sensing layer segments 289 a or 289 b as they are sensedin step 702 of methodology 700 by respective AFE 283 a and 283 b oftouch controllers 282 a and 282 b. FIG. 4 also shows a definedanalog-sensed margin area 402 a of the analog touch-sensing area 489 aof touch-sensing layer segment 289 a and a defined analog-sensed marginarea 402 b of the analog touch-sensing area 489 b of touch sensing layersegment 289 b. Each of analog-sensed margin areas 402 a and 402 b thatare located adjacent and to either side of middle boundary region 230that exists between the rightmost TX₁ line 31 of touch-sensing layersegment 289 a and the leftmost TX₂ line 32 of touch-sensing layersegment 289 b.

Still referring to FIG. 4, the width of middle boundary region 230between touch-sensing layer segments 289 a and 289 b is the distancebetween TX₁ line 31 (that is coupled to first touch controller 282 a)and TX₂ line 32 (that is coupled to second touch controller 282 b). Itwill be understood that the respective widths of margin areas 402 a and402 b may be defined (e.g., selected) by real time commands to AFEs 283a and 283 b from respective MCU 281 a and 281 b to fit the needs of agiven configuration of information handling system 200 as shown in step701 of FIG. 7. Just as an example, width of margin area 402 a may bedefined to include TX₁ lines 30 and 31, and width of margin area 402 amay be defined to include TX₂ lines 32 and 33. However, margin areas 402a and 402 b may be defined to have any other greater or lesser width byselecting a different number of TX₁ lines and TX₂ lines for including ineach of the margin areas 402 a and 402 b.

As described further herein in relation to FIG. 8, in one optionalembodiment the respective widths of each of margin areas 402 a and 402 bmay be dynamically changed (e.g., in real time by command fromrespective MCUs 281 a and 281 b) to fit the changing needs of differentconfigurations or use-cases of information handling system 200, e.g., asdetected and reported to MCUs 281 a and 281 b by host programmableintegrated circuit 206 and/or EC 261. In one embodiment, the respectivewidths (i.e., number of TX lines) of margin areas 402 a and 402 b may bedefined to be the same as each other at any given time, although it isalternatively possible that widths of margin areas 402 a and 402 b maybe defined to be different from each other at the same time by defininga number of TX₁ lines for including in margin area 402 a that isdifferent from the number of TX₂ lines defined for including in marginarea 402 b.

Returning to FIG. 4, first AFE 283 a converts sensed analog signals fromfirst analog touch-sensing area 489 a to corresponding first digitaltouch data, and second AFE 283 b converts sensed analog signals fromsecond analog touch-sensing area 489 b to corresponding second digitaltouch data. This corresponds to step 704 of methodology 700. As furthershown in FIG. 4, first AFE 283 a converts sensed analog signals ofmargin area 402 a to first digital touch data of margin area 402 a andprovides it to second AFE 283 b via an existing electrical interface(e.g., UART, I²C, SPI, etc.) in step 705 of methodology 700. At the sametime, second AFE 283 b converts sensed analog signals of margin area 402b to second digital touch data of margin area 402 b and provides it tofirst AFE 283 a via an existing electrical interface (e.g., UART, I²C,SPI, etc.) in step 705 of methodology 700.

FIG. 5 illustrates a visual representation of digital touch dataprovided by the internal ADCs of AFEs 283 a and 283 b to MCUs of touchcontrollers 282 a and 282 b, respectively. As shown, AFE 283 a combinesdigital touch data of first touch sensing area 489 a with digital touchdata 403 b of second margin area 402 b that is received from AFE 283 b,and provides this combined digital touch data 451 a as a first heat mapto MCU 281 a of touch controller 282 a. At the same time, AFE 283 bcombines digital touch data of second touch sensing area 489 b withdigital touch data 403 a of first margin area 402 a that is receivedfrom AFE 283 a, and provides this combined digital touch data 451 b as asecond heat map to MCU 281 b of touch controller 282 b. This operationis described in step 706 of methodology 700.

FIG. 6 illustrates a visual representation of digital touch datareceived from touch controllers 282 a and 282 b and processed in hostprogrammable integrated circuit 206. As shown, an HID touchscreen driverin host programmable integrated circuit 206 has combined the firstcombined digital touch data 451 a and the second combined digital touchdata 451 b of FIG. 5 that is received from respective touch controllers282 a and 282 b into a single continuous and unitary total touch map 602for touchscreen display device 285, e.g., in step 708 of methodology700. Since the first combined digital touch data 451 a includes digitaltouch data of second margin area 402 b from second analog touch-sensingarea 489 b that corresponds to and aligns with a portion of the digitaltouch data of second touch sensing area 489 b, and the second combineddigital touch data 451 b includes digital data of first margin area 402a from first analog touch-sensing area 489 a that corresponds to andaligns with a portion of the digital touch data of first touch sensingarea 489 a, any boundary conflicts that would otherwise exist betweendigital touch data corresponding to the separate first and second analogtouch-sensing areas 489 a and 489 b is already resolved in first andsecond combined digital touch data 451 a and 451 b (by touch controllers282 a and 282 b, respectively) before first and second combined digitaltouch data 451 a and 451 b are combined into the total touch map 602 byhost programmable integrated circuit 206. Therefore, first combineddigital touch data 451 a is automatically aligned with second combineddigital touch data 451 b when combined digital touch data 451 a and 451b are combined into total touch map 602 by host programmable integratedcircuit 206, and without any boundary resolution action taken by OS 260on by host programmable integrated circuit 206.

FIG. 8 is a table illustrating some examples of different designatedwidths of each of margin sharing areas 402 a and 402 b (listed in“Sharing Area” row of the table of FIG. 8) for different possible usermodes of a foldable information handling system 200 (e.g., a portablebattery-powered foldable information handling system with a unitarycontinuous display screen that is foldable about a hinged center line850 of the display screen as shown FIG. 8). In FIG. 8, different usermodes that provide different user experiences are illustrated in the“Picture” row of the table of FIG. 8. In the table of FIG. 8, the“Remark” row describes example factors that may be considered whenassigning the different widths of each of margin sharing areas 402 a and402 b. In one embodiment, the width of margin sharing areas 402 a and402 b may be dynamically selected and defined in real time (e.g., byMCUs 281 a and 281 b) according to the determined current user mode ofinformation handling system 200 (e.g., as detected and reported to MCUs281 a and 281 b by host programmable integrated circuit 206 and/or EC261) as shown by repeating from step 708 to step 701 of FIG. 7. Otherfactors which may be considered when assigning the different widths ofeach of margin sharing areas 402 a and 402 b include, but are notlimited to, current operating system (OS) application context, currenthinge or fold angle, etc.

As described above, the predefined widths of margin sharing areas 402 aand 402 b may be dynamically selected and varied based on sensed usermode, e.g., as sensed by host programmable integrated circuit 206 and/orEC 261. In such an embodiment, host programmable integrated circuit 206and/or EC 261 may optionally provide control signals to touchcontrollers 282 a and 282 b to cause touch controllers 282 a and 282 bto implement the different widths of margin sharing areas 402 a and 402b, e.g., according to a lookup table storing a relationship between usermode and sharing area width such as shown in “User Mode” and “SharingArea” rows of the table of FIG. 8. Such a lookup table may be stored,for example, in non-volatile memory 263 and/or storage 217. As anexample, to implement the example margin sharing area widths for theembodiment of FIG. 8, the following signals may be received andprocessed by touch controllers 282 a and 282 b:

1) For 5 Millimeter Margin Sharing Area of Book Mode:

-   -   TC1 analog-sensed margin area 402 a (X-axis, Y-axis)=(TX₁ lines        30&31, RX₁ lines 0-83)    -   TC2 analog-sensed margin area 402 b (X-axis, Y-axis)=(TX₂ lines        32&33, RX₂ lines 0-83).

2) For 10 Millimeter Margin Sharing Area of Tablet Mode:

-   -   TC1 analog-sensed margin area 402 a (X-axis, Y-axis)=(TX₁ lines        28-31, RX₁ lines 0-83)    -   TC2 analog-sensed margin area 402 b (X-axis, Y-axis)=(TX₂ lines        32-35, RX₂ lines 0-83).

The single continuous and unitary total touch map 602 for touchscreendisplay device 285 may then be analyzed by OS 260 (e.g., using HIDtouchscreen driver 262) to interpret user finger and pen (or stylus)touch gestures that are input to touch-sensing sensor circuitry oftouchscreen display device 285. These interpreted user gestures may beprovided (e.g., by HID touchscreen driver 262) to other software and/orfirmware executing on host programmable integrated circuit 206 (e.g.,such as application/s 264 and/or integrated graphics of host 206) or onother programmable integrated circuits (e.g., such as GPU 209) ofinformation handling system 200. Other software and/or firmwarereceiving these interpreted user gestures may respond by taking one ormore display actions according to the user gestures (e.g., such aschanging or moving graphic images displayed on touchscreen displaydevice 285 by moving a displayed cursor, moving or resizing a displayedapplication window, selecting a displayed button or web link, etc.),taking one or more application actions according to the user gestures(e.g., such as opening or closing a given application 264, performing anapplication action designated by the interpreted user gesture, acceptingentry of data by the interpreted user gesture, etc.), etc.

FIGS. 9-11 illustrate an alternative embodiment of a touchscreen displaydevice 985 that includes a layered display screen that defines a singlecontinuous visual display area similar to that described in relation tothe embodiment of FIG. 2. In this embodiment, touchscreen display device985 includes a separate layer of touch-sensing sensor circuitry (e.g.,capacitive layers, resistive layers technology, surface acoustic wavetransducers, etc.) that defines a touch-sensing layer that overlies thevisual display area of display screen 287 as shown in FIG. 9. In thisembodiment, touch-sensing sensor circuitry of touchscreen display device985 includes a plurality of regularly-spaced drive or transmit (TX)lines and a plurality of regularly-spaced sense or receive (RX) linesthat are oriented perpendicular to the transmit (TX) lines to form agrid of TX and RX lines. In this grid configuration, the TX lines and RXlines cross each other in perpendicular spaced planes to form sensenodes at each crossing point.

As described further below, the TX lines and RX lines of touch-sensingsensor circuitry of touchscreen display device 985 are configureddifferently than are the TX lines and RX lines of the touch-sensingcircuitry embodiment of touchscreen display device 285 of FIG. 2, butmay be operatively coupled to multiple touch controllers 282 a and 282 bof FIG. 2 as described below. In one embodiment, touchscreen displaydevice 985 may have a 17 inch (or larger) diagonal size touchscreendisplay that is coupled to multiple touch controllers 282 a and 282 b(e.g., touch controllers each configured for supporting a single 7 to 8inch diagonal size touchscreen display). In this embodiment,touch-sensing circuitry of touchscreen display device 985 forms a singlecontinuous touch sensor, which is a standard design sensor that mayaccommodate either a single or multiple touch controller architecture,thus reducing supply chain cost and manufacturing complexity. Further,the RX lines of the touch sensor circuitry may be evenly distributed onboth sides of the sensor enabling narrowest borders to be provided inone embodiment.

Still referring to FIG. 9, the signal conductors of each of the RX linesextends across the full length of touch-sensing sensor circuitry oftouchscreen display device 985, extending from the left edge to theright edge of touch-sensing sensor circuitry of touchscreen displaydevice 985 without any discontinuity (i.e., gap or cut) in the RX lines,TX lines, or the quadrants of touch-sensing sensor circuitry controlledby the different touch controllers 282 a and 282 b as shown in FIG. 10).In the embodiment of FIG. 9, touch controller 282 a (TC1) may be coupledby respective TX₁ signal conductors to a first (leftmost) group of TX₁lines, and coupled by respective RX₁ signal conductors to a first(uppermost) group of RX₁ lines. Similarly, touch controller 282 b (TC2)may be separately coupled by respective TX₂ signal conductors to asecond (rightmost) group of TX₂ lines, and by respective RX₂ signalconductors to a second (lowermost) group of RX₂ lines. Thus, a boundaryarea 930 separates the first (uppermost) group of RX₁ lines coupled totouch controller 282 a from the second (lowermost) group of RX₂ linescoupled to touch controller 282 b.

The embodiment of FIGS. 9-11 may be implemented to provide a OneTransmit (TX)—Each Receive (RX) touch controller architecture whichleverages the fact that most touch controllers are designed for use witha rectangular-shaped Aspect Ratio in which the touch controller has moreRX than TX lines. It will be understood that the architecture andalgorithm of FIGS. 9-11 are scalable to two or more touch controllersand to touchscreen display sizes larger than 17 inch diagonal size.

FIG. 10 illustrates four separate sensing regions (or zones) 1002, 1004,1006 and 1008 of touch-sensing sensor circuitry of FIG. 9 that may bedefined when coupled to touch controllers 282 a and 282 b of FIG. 2. Asshown, touch controller 282 a (TC1) supplies a drive signal to each ofTX₁ lines of quadrants 1002 and 1004, and touch controller 282 b (TC2)supplies a drive signal to each of TX₂ lines of quadrants 1006 and 1008.At the same time, touch controller 282 a (TC1) receives analog sensesignals from each of RX₁ lines of quadrants 1002 and 1006, and touchcontroller 282 b (TC2) receives analog sense signals from each of RX₂lines of quadrants 1004 and 1008.

FIG. 11 illustrates one exemplary embodiment of touch-sensing scanningmethodology 1100 that may be implemented in one exemplary embodiment bythe combination of touch controllers 282 a and 282 b with thetouchscreen display embodiment of FIGS. 9 and 10. As shown, methodology1100 begins in step 1102, where scanning is started for a new frame. Instep 1104, transmit and receive modes of touch controller 282 a (TC1)are turned on, receive mode of touch controller 282 b (TC2) is turnedon, and a TX₁ line number counter value “n” is set to 0 for the firstTX₁ line.

Next, in step 1106, touch controller 282 a (TC1) provides a drive signalto the current “n” TX₁ line number in quadrants 1002 and 1004 (e.g.,which is TX₁ line=0 for the first iteration). In step 1108, AFE 283 a oftouch controller 282 a (TC1) and AFE 283 b of touch controller 282 b(TC2) sequentially receive analog sense signals (in RX₁ lines ofquadrant 1002 and RX₂ lines of quadrant 1004) that correspond to thetransmitted drive signal of step 1106, and convert these received valuesto digital touch data provided to MCU 282 a and MCU 282 b, respectively.

Next, in step 1110, it is determined whether the current value of “n”corresponds to the maximum “n” value (e.g., “Nmax”) of the last TX₁ line(e.g., maximum “n” value of TX₁₌₃₁ in one embodiment). If not, thenmethodology 1100 proceeds to step 1111 and increments the currentcounter value of “n” by 1 (e.g., new current “n” value=previous “n”value+1) and returns to step 1106 and repeats as shown. When it isdetermined in step 1110 that the current “n” value equals the maximum“n” value (e.g., maximum “n” value=Nmax=31 in one embodiment), thenmethodology 1100 proceeds to step 1112 where MCU 281 a of touchcontroller 282 a (TC1) creates a heat map for quadrant 1002 (zone 1) andMCU 281 b of touch controller 282 b (TC2) creates a heat map forquadrant 1004 (zone 2).

Methodology 1100 then proceeds to step 1114 where transmit and receivemodes of touch controller 282 b (TC2) are turned on, receive mode oftouch controller 282 a (TC1) is turned on, and a TX₂ line number countervalue “m” is set to 0 for the first TX₂ line. Next, in step 1116, touchcontroller 282 b (TC2) provides a drive signal to the current “m” TX₂line number in quadrants 1006 and 1008 (e.g., which is TX₂ line=0 forthe first iteration). In step 1118, AFE 283 a of touch controller 282 a(TC1) and AFE 283 b of touch controller 282 b (TC2) sequentially receiveanalog sense signals (in RX₁ lines of quadrant 1006 and RX₂ lines ofquadrant 1008) that correspond to the transmitted drive signal of step1116, and convert these received values to digital touch data providedto MCU 281 a and MCU 281 b, respectively.

Next, in step 1120, it is determined whether the current value of “m”corresponds to the maximum “m” value (e.g., “Mmax”) of the last TX₂ line(e.g., maximum “m” value of TX₁=30 in one embodiment). If not, thenmethodology 1100 proceeds to step 1121 and increments the currentcounter value of “m” by 1 (e.g., new current “m” value=previous “m”value+1) and returns to step 1116 and repeats as shown. When it isdetermined in step 1120 that the current “m” value equals the maximum“m” value (e.g., maximum “m” value=Mmax=30 in one embodiment), thenmethodology 1100 proceeds to step 1122 where MCU 281 a of touchcontroller 282 a (TC1) creates a heat map for quadrant 1006 (zone 3) andMCU 281 b of touch controller 282 b (TC2) creates a heat map forquadrant 1008 (zone 4).

Methodology 1100 of FIG. 11 then proceeds to step 1124 where touchcontroller 282 a (TC1) combines heat map data for quadrants 1002 and1006 to create a combined heat map for touch controller 282 a (TC1), andprovides this combined data as digital HID touch protocol data to hostprogrammable integrated circuit 206. In step 1126, touch controller 282b (TC2) combines heat map data for quadrants 1004 and 1008 to create acombined heat map for touch controller 282 b (TC2), and provides thiscombined data as digital HID touch protocol data to host programmableintegrated circuit 206. In step 1128, host programmable integratedcircuit 206 (e.g., using HID touchscreen driver 262) then combines thedigital HID touch protocol data provided from touch controller 282 a(TC1) and touch controller 282 b (TC2) to create a single continuous andunitary total touch map for touchscreen display device 985, with anyboundary conflicts between adjacent touch sensor segments already beingresolved by the digital touch data shared between touch controller 282 a(TC1) and touch controller 282 b (TC2), and without any boundaryresolution action taken by OS 260 on by host programmable integratedcircuit 206. In one embodiment, step 1126 may be performed using themethodology of steps 705, 706 and 708 of FIG. 7.

Similar to previously described in relation to methodology 700 of FIG.7, the single continuous and unitary total touch map for touchscreendisplay device 985 may then be analyzed by OS 260 (e.g., using HIDtouchscreen driver 262) to interpret user finger and pen (or stylus)touch gestures that are input to touch-sensing sensor circuitry oftouchscreen display device 985. These interpreted user gestures may beprovided (e.g., by HID touchscreen driver 262) to other software and/orfirmware executing on host programmable integrated circuit 206 (e.g.,such as application/s 264 and/or integrated graphics of host 206) or onother programmable integrated circuits (e.g., such as GPU 209) ofinformation handling system 200. Other software and/or firmwarereceiving these interpreted user gestures may respond by taking one ormore display actions according to the user gestures (e.g., such aschanging or moving graphic images displayed on touchscreen displaydevice 985 by moving a displayed cursor, moving or resizing a displayedapplication window, selecting a displayed button or web link, etc.),taking one or more application actions according to the user gestures(e.g., such as opening or closing a given application 264, performing anapplication action designated by the interpreted user gesture, acceptingentry of data by the interpreted user gesture, etc.), etc.

FIG. 12 illustrates a simplified block diagram of a multiple (e.g.,dual) host touch interface architecture embodiment that includes hostprogrammable integrated circuit 206, touch controllers 282 a and 282 b,and the quadrants 1002, 1004, 1006 and 1008 of the single unitary analogtouch-sensing area, such as employed in the methodology of FIG. 11. Inthis embodiment, AFE digital data is shared between touch controllers282 a and 282 b, e.g., to enhance touch computation accuracy in theoverlap/margin areas between the quadrants (shown in crosshatching inFIG. 12). In this regard, AFE 283 a combines digital touch data ofquadrants 1002 and 1006 with digital touch data of the crosshatchedmargin area 1090 of quadrants 1004 and 1008 that is received from AFE283 b, and provides this combined digital touch data as a first heat mapto MCU 281 a of touch controller 282 a. At the same time, AFE 283 bcombines digital touch data of quadrants 1004 and 1008 with digitaltouch data of the crosshatched margin area 1092 of quadrants 1002 and1006 that is received from AFE 283 a, and provides this combined digitaltouch data as a second heat map to MCU 281 b of touch controller 282 b.

FIG. 13 illustrates a simplified block diagram of an alternative singlehost touch interface architecture embodiment that includes hostprogrammable integrated circuit 206, touch controllers 282 a and 282 b,and the quadrants 1002, 1004, 1006 and 1008 of the single unitary analogtouch-sensing area. In this embodiment, AFE digital data is again sharedbetween touch controllers 282 a and 282 b to enhance touch computationaccuracy in the overlap/margin areas between the quadrants (shown incrosshatching in FIG. 13) in the same manner as described for theembodiment of FIG. 12. However, HID touch point data is also shared fromMCU 281 b of touch controller 282 b to MCU 281 a of touch controller 282a, and MCU 281 b of touch controller 282 b stitches together the HIDtouchpoint data into a single combined touch controller touch map (thatincludes touch data of both touch controllers MCU 281 a and 281 b),which is then provided as digital HID touch data by a single data pathto OS 260 and its drivers 262 and applications 264 for use as previouslydescribed.

Although FIGS. 2-13 illustrate certain embodiments employing two touchcontrollers that are coupled to two separate respective touch-sensinglayer segments of a common touchscreen display device, it will beunderstood the disclosed systems and methods may be implemented in otherembodiments using three or more touch controllers coupled (e.g., andcascaded) to three or more respective touch-sensing layer segments of acommon touchscreen display device.

It will be understood that one or more of the tasks, functions, ormethodologies described herein (e.g., including those described hereinfor components 203, 206, 209, 250, 261, 279, 281 a, 281 b, 282 a, 282 b,etc.) may be implemented by circuitry and/or by a computer program ofinstructions (e.g., computer readable code such as firmware code orsoftware code) embodied in a non-transitory tangible computer readablemedium (e.g., optical disk, magnetic disk, non-volatile memory device,etc.), in which the computer program includes instructions that areconfigured when executed on a processing device in the form of aprogrammable integrated circuit (e.g., processor such as CPU,controller, microcontroller, microprocessor, ASIC, etc. or programmablelogic device “PLD” such as FPGA, complex programmable logic device“CPLD”, etc.) to perform one or more steps of the methodologiesdisclosed herein. In one embodiment, a group of such processing devicesmay be selected from the group consisting of CPU, controller,microcontroller, microprocessor, FPGA, CPLD and ASIC. The computerprogram of instructions may include an ordered listing of executableinstructions for implementing logical functions in an processing systemor component thereof. The executable instructions may include aplurality of code segments operable to instruct components of anprocessing system to perform the methodologies disclosed herein.

It will also be understood that one or more steps of the presentmethodologies may be employed in one or more code segments of thecomputer program. For example, a code segment executed by theinformation handling system may include one or more steps of thedisclosed methodologies. It will be understood that a processing devicemay be configured to execute or otherwise be programmed with software,firmware, logic, and/or other program instructions stored in one or morenon-transitory tangible computer-readable mediums (e.g., data storagedevices, flash memories, random update memories, read only memories,programmable memory devices, reprogrammable storage devices, harddrives, floppy disks, DVDs, CD-ROMs, and/or any other tangible datastorage mediums) to perform the operations, tasks, functions, or actionsdescribed herein for the disclosed embodiments.

For purposes of this disclosure, an information handling system mayinclude any instrumentality or aggregate of instrumentalities operableto compute, calculate, determine, classify, process, transmit, receive,retrieve, originate, switch, store, display, communicate, manifest,detect, record, reproduce, handle, or utilize any form of information,intelligence, or data for business, scientific, control, or otherpurposes. For example, an information handling system may be a personalcomputer (e.g., desktop or laptop), tablet computer, mobile device(e.g., personal digital assistant (PDA) or smart phone), server (e.g.,blade server or rack server), a network storage device, or any othersuitable device and may vary in size, shape, performance, functionality,and price. The information handling system may include random accessmemory (RAM), one or more processing resources such as a centralprocessing unit (CPU) or hardware or software control logic, ROM, and/orother types of nonvolatile memory. Additional components of theinformation handling system may include one or more disk drives, one ormore network ports for communicating with external devices as well asvarious input and output (I/O) devices, such as a keyboard, a mouse,touchscreen and/or a video display. The information handling system mayalso include one or more buses operable to transmit communicationsbetween the various hardware components.

While the invention may be adaptable to various modifications andalternative forms, specific embodiments have been shown by way ofexample and described herein. However, it should be understood that theinvention is not intended to be limited to the particular formsdisclosed. Rather, the invention is to cover all modifications,equivalents, and alternatives falling within the spirit and scope of theinvention as defined by the appended claims. Moreover, the differentaspects of the disclosed systems and methods may be utilized in variouscombinations and/or independently. Thus the invention is not limited toonly those combinations shown herein, but rather may include othercombinations.

What is claimed is:
 1. An information handling system, comprising: atouch screen display device comprising at least first and secondsegments disposed in side-by-side relationship to each other with aboundary defined therebetween; a first analog to digital converter (ADC)coupled to the touch screen display device and receiving first analogsignals corresponding to a user touch from the first segment andconverting the first analog signals to respective first digital datathat includes information identifying a current particular touchedlocation on the first segment; and a second ADC coupled to the touchscreen display device and receiving second analog signals correspondingto a user touch from the second segment and converting the second analogsignals to respective second digital data that includes informationidentifying a current particular touched location on the second segment;where the first ADC and second ADC are coupled together, the first ADCproviding to the second ADC a portion of the first digital datacorresponding to a defined margin area of the first segment adjacent tothe boundary between the first and second segments, and the second ADCproviding to the first ADC a portion of the second digital datacorresponding to a defined margin area of the second segment adjacent tothe boundary between the second and second segments; where theinformation handling system further comprises at least one firstprogrammable integrated circuit coupled to the first ADC and at leastone second programmable integrated circuit coupled to the second ADC,the first ADC providing the first digital data combined with theprovided portion of the second digital data to the at least one firstprogrammable integrated circuit of the information handing system, andthe second ADC providing the second digital data combined with theprovided portion of the first digital data to the at least one secondprogrammable integrated circuit of the information handling system; andwhere the information handling system further comprises at least onethird programmable integrated circuit programmed to receive the firstdigital data that is combined with the provided portion of the seconddigital data and to receive the second digital data that is combinedwith the provided portion of the first digital data, and to form totalcombined digital data by combining the received first digital data thatis combined with the provided portion of the second digital data withthe received second digital data that is combined with the providedportion of the first digital data.
 2. The information handling system ofclaim 1, where the defined margin area of the first segment has a firstwidth and the defined margin area of the second segment has a secondwidth; and where the at least one third programmable integrated circuitis programmed to dynamically change the first width and the second widthin real time.
 3. The information handling system of claim 1, where thedefined margin area of the first segment has a first width and thedefined margin area of the second segment has a second width; and wherethe at least one third programmable integrated circuit is programmed tomonitor a current user mode of the information handling system, and todynamically change the first width and the second width in real timebased on a change in the detected current user mode of the informationhandling system.
 4. The information handling system of claim 1, where:the at least one first programmable integrated circuit is a firstmicrocontroller coupled to the first ADC and the at least one secondprogrammable integrated circuit is a second microcontroller coupled tothe second ADC, the first ADC providing the first digital data combinedwith the provided portion of the second digital data to the firstmicrocontroller, and the second ADC providing the second digital datacombined with the provided portion of the first digital data to thesecond microcontroller; where the at least one third programmableintegrated circuit is a host programmable integrated circuit coupled tothe first microcontroller and the second microcontroller, the hostprogrammable integrated circuit receiving from the first microcontrollerthe first digital data that is combined with the provided portion of thesecond digital data, and the host programmable integrated circuitreceiving from the second microcontroller the second digital data thatis combined with the provided portion of the first digital data; andwhere the host programmable integrated circuit is programmed to analyzethe total combined digital data to interpret one or more user touchgestures; and to take one or more display or application actionsaccording to the interpretation of the user gestures.
 5. The informationhandling system of claim 4, the first microcontroller providing thefirst digital data that is combined with the provided portion of thesecond digital data to the host programmable integrated circuit as firstcombined digital touch data that identifies the occurrence of a firstuser touch event and its corresponding sensed touch location; the secondmicrocontroller providing the second digital data that is combined withthe provided portion of the first digital data to the host programmableintegrated circuit as second combined digital touch data that identifiesthe occurrence of a second user touch event and its corresponding sensedtouch location; and where the host programmable integrated circuit isprogrammed to execute a human interface device (HID) touchscreen driverto analyze the total combined digital data to interpret one or more usertouch gestures, and to take one or more display or application actionsaccording to the interpretation of the user gestures.
 6. The informationhandling system of claim 1, where the at least one first programmableintegrated circuit is a first microcontroller coupled to the first ADCand the at least one second programmable integrated circuit is a secondmicrocontroller coupled to the second ADC, the first ADC providing thefirst digital data combined with the provided portion of the seconddigital data to the first microcontroller, the second ADC providing thesecond digital data combined with the provided portion of the firstdigital data to the second microcontroller, and the secondmicrocontroller providing to the first microcontroller the seconddigital data that is combined with the provided portion of the firstdigital data; where the at least one third programmable integratedcircuit is a host programmable integrated circuit coupled to the firstmicrocontroller, the host programmable integrated circuit receiving thefirst digital data that is combined with the provided portion of thesecond digital data from the first microcontroller, and the hostprogrammable integrated circuit receiving the second digital data thatis combined with the provided portion of the first digital data from thefirst microcontroller.
 7. The information handling system of claim 6,the first microcontroller providing the first digital data that iscombined with the provided portion of the second digital data to thehost programmable integrated circuit as first combined digital touchdata that identifies the occurrence of a first user touch event and itscorresponding sensed touch location; and the first microcontrollerproviding the second digital data that is combined with the providedportion of the first digital data to the host programmable integratedcircuit as second combined digital touch data that identifies theoccurrence of a second user touch event and its corresponding sensedtouch location.
 8. The information handling system of claim 1, where thetouch screen display device comprises a unitary layered planar displayscreen defining a continuous and unitary planar visual display area; andwhere the first and second segments are disposed in adjacentside-by-side relationship to each other, a plane of each of the firstand second segments being disposed in stacked layered parallelrelationship with a plane of a portion of the layered planar displayscreen; and where the touch screen is foldable about a hinged centerline that is defined at a boundary between the first and secondsegments.
 9. The information handling system of claim 1, where theinformation handling system further comprises a first touch controllercomprising the first ADC, and a second touch controller comprising thesecond ADC; where the first segment comprises a first portion of receivelines of the touch screen display device, the first portion of receivelines forming sense nodes with transmit lines of the first touchcontroller and the first ADC receiving the first analog signals from thefirst portion of receive lines; and where the second segment comprises asecond portion of receive lines of the touch screen display device thatare separate from the first portion of receive lines, the second portionof receive lines forming sense nodes with transmit lines of the secondtouch controller.
 10. The information handling system of claim 1,further comprising: a first touch controller that comprises the firstADC, and a second touch controller that comprises the second ADC; wherethe first segment comprises a first group of receive lines of the touchscreen display device that form sense nodes with both a first group oftransmit lines of the first touch controller and a first group oftransmit lines of the second touch controller, the first ADC receivingthe first analog signals from the first group of receive lines of thetouch screen display device; where the second segment comprises a secondgroup of receive lines of the touch screen display device that formsense nodes with both a second group of transmit lines of the firsttouch controller and a second group of transmit lines of the secondtouch controller, the second ADC receiving the second analog signalsfrom the second group of receive lines of the touch screen displaydevice; and where the first group of receive lines of the touch screendisplay device are different from the second group of receive lines ofthe touch screen display device, the first group of transmit lines ofthe first touch controller are different from the second group oftransmit lines of the first touch controller, and the first group oftransmit lines of the second touch controller are different from thesecond group of transmit lines of the second touch controller.
 11. Theinformation handling system of claim 1, where the at least one firstprogrammable integrated circuit is a first microcontroller, the at leastone second programmable circuit is a second microcontroller, and the atleast one third programmable integrated circuit is a central processingunit (CPU).
 12. A method, comprising: displaying graphics images on avisual display area of a touch screen display device of an informationhandling system, the touch screen display device comprising at leastfirst and second segments disposed in side-by-side relationship to eachother with a boundary defined therebetween; receiving in a first analogto digital converter (ADC) first analog signals corresponding to a usertouch from a first segment of the touchscreen display device, andconverting the first analog signals to respective first digital datathat includes information identifying a current particular touchedlocation on the first segment; receiving in a second ADC second analogsignals corresponding to a user touch from a second segment of thetouchscreen display device, and converting the second analog signals torespective second digital data that includes information identifying acurrent particular touched location on the second segment, the first andsecond segments of the touchscreen display device being disposed inside-by-side relationship to each other with a boundary definedtherebetween; providing from the first ADC to the second ADC a portionof the first digital data corresponding to a defined margin area of thefirst segment adjacent to the boundary between the first and secondsegments, and providing from the second ADC to the first ADC a portionof the second digital data corresponding to a defined margin area of thesecond segment adjacent to the boundary between the first and secondsegments; in the first ADC combining the first digital data with theprovided portion of the second digital data, and in the second ADCcombining the second digital data with the provided portion of the firstdigital data; and combining the first digital data that is combined withthe provided portion of the second digital data with the second digitaldata that is combined with the provided portion of the first digitaldata to form total combined digital data.
 13. The method of claim 12,where the defined margin area of the first segment has a first width andthe defined margin area of the second segment has a second width; andwhere the method further comprises dynamically changing the first widthand the second width in real time.
 14. The method of claim 12, where thedefined margin area of the first segment has a first width and thedefined margin area of the second segment has a second width; and wherethe method further comprises monitoring a current user mode of theinformation handling system, and dynamically changing the first widthand the second width in real time based on a change in the detectedcurrent user mode of the information handling system.
 15. The method ofclaim 12, further comprising analyzing the total combined digital datato interpret one or more user touch gestures; and taking one or moredisplay or application actions according to the interpretation of theuser gestures.
 16. The method of claim 15, further comprising providingthe first digital data that is combined with the provided portion of thesecond digital data as first combined digital touch data that identifiesthe occurrence of a first user touch event and its corresponding sensedtouch location; providing the second digital data that is combined withthe provided portion of the first digital data as second combineddigital touch data that identifies the occurrence of a second user touchevent and its corresponding sensed touch location; and using a humaninterface device (HID) touchscreen driver to analyze the total combineddigital data to interpret the one or more user touch gestures.
 17. Themethod of claim 12, further comprising providing the first digital datacombined with the provided portion of the second digital data from thefirst ADC to a first microcontroller; providing the second digital datacombined with the provided portion of the first digital data from thesecond ADC to a second microcontroller; providing from the secondmicrocontroller to the first microcontroller the second digital datathat is combined with the provided portion of the first digital data;receiving in a host programmable integrated circuit from the firstmicrocontroller the first digital data that is combined with theprovided portion of the second digital data; and receiving in the hostprogrammable integrated circuit from the first microcontroller thesecond digital data that is combined with the provided portion of thefirst digital data.
 18. The method of claim 17, providing the firstdigital data that is combined with the provided portion of the seconddigital data from the first microcontroller to the host programmableintegrated circuit as first combined digital touch data that identifiesthe occurrence of a first user touch event and its corresponding sensedtouch location; and providing the second digital data that is combinedwith the provided portion of the first digital data from the firstmicrocontroller to the host programmable integrated circuit as secondcombined digital touch data that identifies the occurrence of a seconduser touch event and its corresponding sensed touch location.
 19. Themethod of claim 12, where the touch screen display device comprises aunitary layered planar display screen defining a continuous and unitaryplanar visual display area; and where the first and second segments aredisposed in adjacent side-by-side relationship to each other, a plane ofeach of the first and second segments being disposed in stacked layeredparallel relationship with a plane of a portion of the layered planardisplay screen; and where the touch screen is foldable about a hingedcenter line that is defined at a boundary between the first and secondsegments.
 20. The method of claim 12, where the information handlingsystem further comprises a first touch controller comprising the firstADC, and a second touch controller comprising the second ADC; where thefirst segment comprises a first portion of receive lines of the touchscreen display device, the first portion of receive lines forming sensenodes with transmit lines of the first touch controller and the firstADC receiving the first analog signals from the first portion of receivelines; and where the second segment comprises a second portion ofreceive lines of the touch screen display device that are separate fromthe first portion of receive lines, the second portion of receive linesforming sense nodes with transmit lines of the second touch controller.21. The method of claim 12, further comprising: a first touch controllerthat comprises the first ADC, and a second touch controller thatcomprises the second ADC; where the first segment comprises a firstgroup of receive lines of the touch screen display device that formsense nodes with both a first group of transmit lines of the first touchcontroller and a first group of transmit lines of the second touchcontroller, the first ADC receiving the first analog signals from thefirst group of receive lines of the touch screen display device; wherethe second segment comprises a second group of receive lines of thetouch screen display device that form sense nodes with both a secondgroup of transmit lines of the first touch controller and a second groupof transmit lines of the second touch controller, the second ADCreceiving the second analog signals from the second group of receivelines of the touch screen display device; and where the first group ofreceive lines of the touch screen display device are different from thesecond group of receive lines of the touch screen display device, thefirst group of transmit lines of the first touch controller aredifferent from the second group of transmit lines of the first touchcontroller, and the first group of transmit lines of the second touchcontroller are different from the second group of transmit lines of thesecond touch controller.